John Calipari loves his program, his players and the NBA. And early next week, he’ll put all three on display when he stages his own pre-draft camp on the University of Kentucky campus.
Calipari invited front-office members of every NBA team to Lexington for the purpose of evaluating Wildcats who will be entering the draft. The list consists of freshman guard Brandon Knight and forward Terrence Jones, junior swingman DeAndre Liggins and senior center Josh Harrelson.
General managers and scouts will have an opportunity to conduct private workouts with all four players at what Calipari has dubbed the “Kentucky Combine,” which will be held Monday and Tuesday.
“My preference, of course, is to again coach all three of these underclassmen, but we also have the obligation to these young men and their families to help them make the best, most educated decisions for their futures,” Calipari wrote on his website.
Jones and Knight are projected lottery picks, while Liggins and Harrelson are expected to be drafted either late in the second round, or not at all. None of the three underclassmen has hired an agent -- and each has until May 8 to decide whether or not to remove his name from the draft.
Calipari gave a list of reasons why he is conducting this “one-of-a-kind” pre-draft workout.
“NBA teams are prohibited from working out or having contact with players until after the declared list is released, which happened on April 28,” he wrote. “This means players have only just over a week in which to meet with and workout for teams before an ultimate decision must be made. The players are not allowed to miss class during the week to travel to workouts or to visit with teams.”
Say what you will about Calipari, but this is a brilliant idea. Not only do NBA teams get to evaluate Kentucky players, but it certainly won’t hurt in the area of recruiting. Just the opposite.
And you can be sure that it won’t be long before other college programs follow suit.
“My hope is this will allow our players to get direct feedback from NBA decision-makers and hopefully create a clearer picture of what their NBA potential may be,” Calipari wrote. “Instead of us telling them what we are hearing, they can hear directly from the clubs.”
